Tigress with three cubs spotted in Sariska, population reaches 17

Four months after tigress ST-14 was spotted with two cubs, there is more good news from Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar (Rajasthan, India).

Tigress ST-12 was spotted with three cubs on 31 August 2018 – a first for Sariska after it was repopulated with tigers from Ranthambore, said reserve officials.

STR chief conservator of forest Govind Sagar Bhardwaj said ST-12 was captured on a trap camera with her three cubs in the Talvriksh forest range.

Deputy conservator of forest Hemant Singh said during tracking on July 7, it was confirmed that ST-12 had littered cubs by seeing her teeth.

“We increased monitoring and fitted 25 cameras in the area. We managed to catch the three newborn cubs on camera on August 31,” he said.

With these additions, the number of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve has reached 17, including five cubs.

In April, four-year-old ST-14 gave her first litter of two cubs, bringing cheer to the reserve administration that reeled under the death of tiger ST-11, which died after it got entangled in a snare in an agricultural field, and disappearance of tigress ST-5.

The April cubs were born in Sariska after more than two years, the last births being in May 2016 when tigress ST-9 gave birth to ST-15. The reserve, spread over 1,213 sq km, lost all its tigers in 2005 and was repopulated with tigers from Ranthambore. Eight big cats were relocated from Ranthambore to Sariska between 2008 and 2012.

In 2012, relocated tigress ST-2 gave birth to two cubs – ST-7 and ST-8. The tigress gave a litter of two cubs in 2014 again – ST-13 and ST-14. In 2016, tigress ST-9 gave birth to ST-15.

ST-11 was the second tiger to have died after repopulation of Sariska. In 2010, ST-1, the first tiger relocated from Ranthambore died after villagers poisoned it. (Hindustan Times)